Trouble logging in?If you can't remember your password or are having trouble logging in, you will have to reset your password. If you have trouble resetting your password (for example, if you lost access to the original email address), please do not start posting with a new account, as this is against the forum rules. If you create a temporary account, please contact us right away via Forum Support, and send us any information you can about your original account, such as the account name and any email address that may have been associated with it.

Have you ever heard a song which 's so good that it capture your emotion even when you do not understand the lyrics. Then everytime you hear it again, your brain made up some sort of "lyrics" (it's not necessary to be in words, but sometime it draws the image in your brain). This lyrics combining of thought, feelings and emotions end up so good that you can't bother to looking for the real one?

Sadly, no. Song in a language I don't understand that I will listen to on repeat: yes. (...So far I can only remember one.) Making up my own lyric for it: no.

Creating image for songs though, sure, on music that doesn't originally have a lyric to it. The image I create for a song is usually build around the lyrics if it's a vocal.

Well, it's a plus if you can understand what is being said/sung, but it's not really a necessity, IMHO. You can enjoy music from around the world by listening to the song's rhythm and etc. Like how you might enjoy any type of instrumental music you may hear on a day to day basis, regardless of the style or where it came from.

As an electronic music artists, and Dj, I run into the language problem a lot. The majority of the 'mainstream' (of the US Market) are just dumbfounded by my sound. Often jumping the gun, saying its "repetative". So is every other genre of music, especially if its played on 'convential' instruments like guitars and pianos. Only so many chords, yet if you attached language, meaning or words to the sounds, something new emerges. So when people hate on my various Techno or Hardcore its usually a predisposition or genre bias, which is understand as everyone is allowed an opinion.

The sounds are more defined in how they want to make you feel and the melodies are given a more direct meaning. Music is the universal language, even when a language you don't understand is spoken over it. Since you can't stop the feeling, regardless of what it is, when listening to a song you like/hate.

As above mentioned, back when I couldn't understand a word of Japanese, I listened to the songs and sometimes was disappointed when the translations weren't what I expected them to be.

Now that I understand some Japanese to understand songs somewhat, I find that I don't enjoy the song any more or less than when I couldn't understand a word. I think music is about the arrangements and how it is carried out, the emotion that it is sang with, and does the voice fit the style of music. I find that sometimes the lyrics hinder how we appreciate a song, since sometimes the lyrics are so bad we refuse to listen to the music a second time :3.

Not entirely necessary for certain songs. If the song creates a certain mood or atmosphere, then there's no real need to hear the lyrics correctly unless they are a part of creating these emotions in the listener. Many times it's more the way the lyrics are sung than the actual lyrics themselves.

Although I will say that I listened to some French punk rock/heavy rock song a few days ago and I just don't think the French language is suited to that sort of music.

i don't think you really need to know the language to like the music. sometimes the song sounds much better in it's original language than when it's translated into english, and then the translation doesn't make sense. i listen to french music, eventhough some of the words i don't know and i have translated many songs and most of the songs make more sense in the original language or i just stink at translating.

Another vote that you don't need to fully understand the lyrics to enjoy the song. I loved Escaflowne's "Hikari no naka e", "Poketto wo kara ni shite", and "Yakusoku wa irenai" long before I actually went and looked up the translation. Mostly because Maaya Sakamoto has an amazing voice and Youko kanno is an awesome composer/musician.

Spoiler for :

Although I will say that once I found the translation for "Hikari no naka e", it became even more moving, especially considering the ending to the series.

Music is about sound as far as i'm know, so i consider the lyrics something completly different.

I prefer to listen to the way an artists sings a song than to the lyrics played by some sort of computer. They would be the same lyrics but the melody resulting from the interpretation is what we finally listen.

i personally don't really care if i understand/hear the lyrics or not. I think that if the song is catcy and i like it, then hey ill listen to it. One of my favorite songs is from the anime "Vampire Knight" which is the ending song called "still Doll" I've even seen the video. I agree with Mickal555's comment about the numa numa song lol. he/she makes a good point!

It's not necessary to learn the language. I enjoy foreign music, and 80% of the time I don't know what they are saying. There is, to some extent, a meaning to every song and if you can't really understand the language, you won't fully know what it's about, but hey as long as you enjoy your music I could care less if you know it or not.

Go listen to Rap or Black 'club' music. Most of the time the lyrics doesn't make sense. But that doesnt stop people from listening to it. Blacks also have their 'version' of English is is quite difficult to listen to.

So No, understanding the language isn't a must... unless you are born from the 50's to 60's. Man almost all the adults around those age is stubborn to change- They hated it when foreign telenovelas invaded the primetime slots which was for most of part of the 80's and 90's have been dominated by local telenovelas. They tell me, 'you dont even understand a thing they are saying and yet you are still watching this?' Then I just say 'meh' who cares. Same goes for foreign music.

Yeah I understand the Japanese cause I can find lyrics,look up kanji I don't know and then I have it. Honestly, it makes me like the song/artist less cause I feel disappointed the lyrics aren't amazing or anything... SomesongsI can just tell is bad because they use really cheesy lyrics that um... anyone that's watchedany small amount of anime would understand...

I really don't care about the lyrics...When it comes to vocals, what matters to me is how well the vocalist can sing...I don't need to understand what a singer is singing in order to know that they're a good singer, because if they suck at singing, why bother knowing what they're singing?

In either case, as a musician, I pay more attention to the music than anything else...There's a reason why I listen to a band like Maximum The Hormone despite the language barrier, and I sure as hell don't listen to bands like Van Halen and Metallica for the lyrics either...

__________________

"I just want to lie in my own crusty filth, eating rancid egg sandwiches, until some unfortunate paramedic has to blow down my door to find my bloated and pasty corpse wedged between the nightstand and mattress stained with Bengay and Robitussin DM." - Greg Gutfeld on sex and seniors"Syphilis does not stay in Vegas. Debt collectors do not stay in Vegas. Dead hookers stay in Vegas, but the guilt stays with you forever." - Bill Schultz